1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rinse method which performs a rinse process on a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, after an exposure pattern is developed, a developing apparatus which performs such a rinse process, and a computer readable storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor device fabrication process, for example, a resist pattern is formed as a mask for forming a predetermined pattern by a so-called photolithography technology in which after a resist liquid is supplied to the top surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter called “wafer”) to form a resist film, and an exposure process is performed on a resist-coated wafer according to a predetermined pattern, an exposure pattern formed on the resist film on the wafer is developed.
In the developing process included in the individual processes of such a photolithography technique, a developing unit (DEV) is supplied to a wafer to form a developer paddle on the entire surface thereof, the developing process is carried out with natural convection for a predetermined time, after which the developer is removed by a rinse process, and then a dry process is performed. The rinse process is important to remove a developer residue like a molten substance. If the process is done insufficiently, multiple development defects occur, thus reducing the product yield.
It is known that such development defects can be reduced normally by adjusting the rinse condition or the like, so that there has been a method of adjusting the rinse condition or the like so as to reduce development defects while observing the condition for the occurrence of the development defects.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-57093 describes that a method of actually measuring development defects with a surface inspection apparatus or the like may not be able to provide highly reliable measurements, and the apparatus is expensive, and discloses, as a technique of avoiding such an inconvenience, a method of immersing the surface of a substrate in a pre-process liquid to dissolve the components in the developer adhered to the surface of the substrate into the pre-process liquid after a post-development rinse process is performed, analyzing the pre-process liquid to quantitatively analyze the components in the developer to thereby grasp development defects, and setting the time or the like of supplying the rinse liquid based on the analysis result.
Even if this method of grasping development defects is employed, however, the condition that reduces development defects differs depending on the material of a resist to which the developer is applied, and the condition needs to be set again every time the material is changed, thereby increasing the number of working steps required to set up the apparatus. The work of setting the condition after grasping development defects should not necessarily find an optimal condition.